In this article, you will learn about the 15 types of toxic people and how to handle them in order to safeguard your mental health, minimize stress and improve the quality of your life.
Note that this article may be insulting for some people, especially, if they identify themselves in any of the mentioned categories. This is not a politically correct post in any way, however, my aim is not to insult or mock others but to educate and create awareness for the victims of toxic people.
This is about identifying all those types of people who may be around you right now cutting you down, taking advantage of you or just messing up your existence. Identifying the problem is always the first approach to its resolution.
This simple guide will give courage to tormented and weak people and hopefully inspire them (or you) to take action against their tormentors in order to live a life that is truly strong, healthy and free. Enjoy.
Table of Contents
The “Exaggeration Supreme” Type
These people tend to always exaggerate in their statements. “Oh my God, it was raining so hard yesterday, I have bumps on my head today from the massive raindrops!”
People who exaggerate with simple things, tend to take the more important things to the limit and then some. This will give you the wrong impression about your surroundings or a situation and you will be influenced to make the wrong decisions because of someone else’s influence.
How to handle them
2 ways: You can ignore and just nod, or you can join in on the fun, for example:
“Really? Was that before or after the frog storm took place? All I saw was some rain.”
The “Extreme Distortion of the Truth” type (aka Lying)
This is pretty straightforward. I have a huge bone to pick with people who tend to distort reality and facts, usually in a way that makes them look good or generates other people’s pity in order to draw attention.
I don’t think I need to elaborate on why people who lie can make your life bad. It is wrong and can get you into all sorts of trouble.
How to handle them
2 ways: You can ignore and just nod, or you can call them out. For example, ask for more details on how they slept with Madonna in the 80s or proof about how they got to date Chuck Norris back in the day. Note: your goal is not to prove them wrong, it’s just to let them know that you don’t believe them. Do not engage into their storytelling after that.
The “Showing off” type
Toxic people are usually exhibitionists. They love attention and would do anything to get the spotlight on them. While this does not seem like a huge deal, hearing for the 11th time about how much money they spent on dinner yesterday, how fancy the place was and how they plan to spend their vacation on Mars can be repetitive and tiring.
How to handle them
2 ways:
- You can ignore and just stay unimpressed by not wanting to ask for details (that really ticks them off) or
- you can just honestly tell them that you are not impressed or interested in that sort of thing.
Note that if you are really impressed or jealous by such materialistic displays you will be soon victimized. In that case, you must remove yourself from their presence.
The “Utterly Self-involved” type
Toxic people are usually narcissistic in nature and care about no one but themselves. For them, you are just another tool, a means to an end and not a person. People like this usually only talk about themselves and never ask about you. And if they do, you will probably get to talk for about 10 seconds before their wisdom is once again unfolded before your eyes…for the next couple of hours.
How to handle them
There is no comeback in this case because they do not care about anything you say! Removing yourself from the location of the ‘brainwash’ would be a more appropriate approach (i.e. get out of there!). There is no winning in this one.
The “Manipulation extraordinaire” type
One of the favorite tools of any toxic person. Getting their way is their life and combining this with some of the above traits (lying, selfishness and exaggeration) will enhance their power to have you do their evil deeds or take part in an evil plan that will only benefit them and make you their slave.
How to handle them
Depends on the situation:
If the person is using scare tactics (99% chance), not being phased by their scary statements will get you further than you think.
If their plan is based on probabilities, just tell them that you do not gamble.
In either case, removing these people from your life is a must as they are highly dangerous. Manipulators can use emotional blackmail to make you feel guilty in order to get their way.
The nosy type
These people will always get in your business and want to know everything about you but not because they care but because gossip is their main occupation. On top of that, there are people who want to know as much as possible about you to use it against you when the opportunity arises.
How to handle them
Do not engage with these people just avoid-avoid-avoid!
Be careful, however, because you might insult or hurt someone who really cares about you. There is no way to identify how you can do that, it’s something that comes from experience with dealing with these people (and partially intuition).
If someone starts getting nosy about you, ask them why they want to know that.
They might back off or they will give a lame excuse and repeat the question. If the latter happens and they still want to know, you can always use the ‘none of your business card’. If people are offended by this and you happen to lose a ‘friend’, you will be happier in the long run, trust me.
The “Depression-for-all-eternity” type
I am not talking about people who are in fact depressed, but about those who always pretend to be. These people are usually just negative and only complain to get attention. In most cases, there is nothing wrong with them. However, there is no way for you to identify if they are indeed clinically depressed so make sure you do not insult anyone by calling them out.
How to handle them
You cannot counter them. These people are negative by nature and have no intention of changing their mentality or ways. They need professional help. The best way is to not be in their presence as their negativity will seep into you and influence the way you think or even live your life.
The opinion junkies
Having an opinion is good. It allows you to make decisions about your life. However, there are people who are always asking for your opinion or different solutions for their problem that they will never use or apply.
Sometimes, they only do it to draw attention, others to test you and see your reaction. Even if they are actually in need of your opinion, most of the times these people will not take action anyway. They just feed on opinions hence the name opinion-junkies.
How to handle them
Simple: ask them what they did the last time you gave them a solution/opinion. If they fail to respond, then you can use that as an excuse to avoid answering their original question. If that doesn’t do the trick, nothing will. (unless you are a pushover and they manipulate you into doing it ‘one last time’).
The “Indecision INC” type
An extension of the previous characteristic. These people cannot make up their minds and if they do, it will only be for a while. You do not want to be around these people as it is not only their opinions that change often but also their morals on life and friendship. You do not want to be anywhere around these people.
How to handle them
I would not counteract. Period. Inability to make choices in life and take action is a serious problem which shows lack of strength and character.
These people are mostly manipulative storytellers. You will never know if you are behind the gun or in front of it until it is too late. Just remove them from your life.
The “egotistic unintelligent” type
There is nothing more dangerous and energy consuming than having to explain everything to some people due to their lack of understanding or immense ego.
If you feel that this is a horrible thing to say or that I should be more compassionate to those in need, I am not talking about people who were born lacking intelligence and are in need of assistance!
Imagine someone who does not understand something you said. Because of this, you have to explain in every detail, what you mean. Then the person will continue insisting about their point of view and suggesting that what you are saying is wrong. So in essence, this person not only fails to understand your point, but also insists that you are wrong!
Usually these people do not care about other people’s opinion, they only have one way and are impervious to reason.
How to handle them
There is no countering involved here. All you need to do is just remove them from your life. They are very high maintenance and add 0 value in your life.
The “Energy vampires” type
A dangerous combination of the depressed and seriously negative people with 0 ambition. For them life is a struggle, nothing ever works right and everyone else is to blame except them of course.
How to handle them
If you are a very ambitious person and you have been doing everything right but getting nowhere, check if you have anyone in your life that fits this description.
Remove them from your life.
The “eternal victim” type (a.k.a Drama Queen)
This type of toxic person is usually someone who has lived a life of struggle and bad luck, especially, in relationships. With some minor exceptions where innocents were actually victimized by vicious parties, these people are victims of their own wrongdoings and can never recognize this so they tend to blame everyone else but themselves.
They live in their own reality, where only what they say is usually correct and are surrounded by likeminded people who kiss their ass.
How to handle them
Do not engage with these people, especially, if you can identify how wrong they are.
Avoid at all costs, they have nothing valuable to add to your life, even if you actually enjoy drama-filled soap operas.
The “Extreme Aggression” type aka The super angry!
For these people, the world is a piece of shit and the zombie-apocalypse is the only thing that will put an end to their suffering. They get pissed at virtually anything and you often have the feeling that their head is going to explode.
How to handle them
Unless you have magic powers and can turn them into peaceful Shaolin-monks, I would seriously suggest you avoid these people. At some point you will find yourself fighting for them in a real fight as they tend to pick fights with pretty much anyone.
The “Did-I-insult-you-today” type
This is one unusual type usually found within your social circle. This type tends to put down everything you say and even go as far as insulting you in front of others (while that does not happen when you are alone).
A similar type to this, is the guy or gal who tends to put down all your best thoughts like a rabid dog. Whenever you have a good idea, made a good buy, had a good plan or made some kind of progress in your life, this person will comment in a way that will shit on your accomplishment and lower the importance of your action.
These type of people are most of the times very insecure and want to show off, a desperate attempt for attention by marking their territory and thus making their presence more pronounced.
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How to handle them
I have been in such a situation with a close friend. When we were together everything was fine. But something took over him when others were around and he would turn into an uber-asshole by insulting me for no reason in front of others.
The first time that this happened, I was really shocked as it caught me off guard. The second time confirmed my suspicions and the third time he did this, I confronted him directly and asked him what was up. He replied that he was not aware that he was doing it and after that moment, he stopped.
There are cases when people are not aware of what they are doing, perhaps it is a way to overcome their own insecurity and shyness. However, there are others who do it on purpose.
In either case, you need to openly confront them and let them know that what they are doing is not OK with you and they must stop it immediately.
If they continue to do so, you must remove them from your environment. They are of no value, even if they were really close to you in the past.
The “Super Ambitious” type a.k.a The power hungry!
Classic example of super ambitious people, they are relentless and will stop at nothing. They will use any of the above traits (if not all of them combined) to get their way and reach the top. Everyone is a tool to them and their moral compass shifts faster than the weather in the Netherlands.
How to handle them
Fighting these kind of people is like taking on the ocean. You cannot win. If you sense that they are dangerous, cut all ties with them and just remove them from your life.
Closing Notes:
There you have it. 15 types of toxic people who will get you in trouble, make you feel like crap and who will increase your stress levels and undermine the quality of your life. Avoiding or removing these types of people from your life is something that you must do otherwise, you become a slave to their negative ways, sooner or later.
Writing negative posts is not something I usually do, but it is for a positive purpose. I want to educate others as to how to handle these types of people as they do not even know that they are under oppression in the first place.
Have you met these types of people before or do you have someone like this in your life? If so, how did you handle them? Let me know by leaving a comment below.
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Until next time, live your life, strong, healthy and free!
by Nick Sigma
CWC, EH, E-YRT200
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